Wolverhampton Wanderers’ new head coach, Gary O’Neill, couldn’t hold back his anger when he missed the opportunity to take a point from Manchester United’s away game due to a misjudgment.
The British media ‘Daily Mirror’ reported on the 15th (Korean time), “Coach Gary O’Neill received an apology for the mistake from the PGMOL (Professional Match Refereeing Organization) referee after the game.”
Wolverhampton lost 0-1 due to Rafael Varane’s winning goal in the 30th minute of the second half in the opening game of the 2023/24 season Premier League against Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on the 15th (Korean time).
The match against Man Utd was Wolverhampton’s first official match under the new head coach O’Neill. On the 10th, Wolverhampton replaced coach Julen Lopetegui, who put down the baton due to a conflict with the club, and appointed coach O’Neill, who received much acclaim by leading Bournemouth to finish in 15th place in the league despite being appointed midway at Bournemouth last season.
In anticipation and anxiety, manager O’Neill met Manchester United as his first official opponent. Last season, Wolverhampton lost all two matches against Manchester United in the Premier League, and it was expected that it would not be an easy game as the opening match was held at Old Trafford, which is called the ‘grave of the away team’.
However, the contents of the match made fans unable to take their eyes off as Wolverhampton played an equal match against Man United unexpectedly. On this day, Wolverhampton recorded 49% of the ball share, and recorded 23 shots, even though it was an away team, it rather attacked more than Man United (15 times).
Especially in the second half, Wolverhampton led. In the second half of the 45th minute, Wolverhampton’s possession was close to 60%, and the number of shots was 18 to 7, showing a big difference. Hwang Hee-chan, who was substituted in the 17th minute of the second half, also energized the Wolverhampton offense by attempting a total of 4 shots.
In the 30th minute of the second half of the game, Baran scored the opening goal with a header, and Man United took 3 points, but it would not be strange if Wolverhampton drew or won.
Meanwhile, manager O’Neill expressed great dissatisfaction with the result of the game. He responded that he couldn’t understand why the referee didn’t call Wolverhampton’s penalty kick in the second half of extra time.
Here’s what O’Neill was enraged about: 5 out of 7 minutes of added time in the second half, Pedro Neto’s left-footed cross from the right flank headed into the United penalty box. At this time, Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana emptied the goal and came forward to parry the cross.
Onana stretched out his arm to clear the cross, but Netu’s cross went over Onana’s arm. At this time, Onana, who failed to touch the ball, collided with Wolverhampton striker Sasha Kalazic, who was shocked and fell to the ground.
The referee did not call a foul even though the goalkeeper, who failed to touch the ball, tripped an opponent. After that, the video review (VAR) was also started, but the centrifugal judgment that it was not a foul was maintained.
Coach O’Neill protested vehemently because he could not accept the decision, and the referee even issued a warning to O’Neill. After the game, while there was a debate over whether Oh Nana’s scene was a foul, PGMOL (Professional Game Refereeing Organization) referee John Moss directly apologized to coach O’Neill and acknowledged the mistake.
According to the media, coach O’Neill insisted in an interview after the game, “I think that scene is a foul. If you hit the player holding the ball that hard, it’s a penalty kick.”메이저놀이터
“I thought the umpire was going to do an on-field review, but unfortunately he gave me a warning, not Onana,” he added.
“I understand the rule of adhering to the field decision as much as possible, but I have not fully accepted it,” he said. “I have already spoken with the officials. If so, the referee must confirm the scene.”
The referee personally went to the manager and apologized, but the reaction of football fans was still cold. The game is already over, and even if you admit the osim, the result of the game doesn’t change, so Wolverhampton couldn’t take the victory point against man utd.
Of course, even if a penalty kick is given, Oh Nana may make a save or the kicker may make a mistake, but Wolverhampton missed the opportunity to take a valuable point by not getting a chance to tie 1-1 due to an error.